Before you get a mentor, the least amount of preparation you need to do is prepare some questions to ask yourself and do basic self-evaluation. Congratulations, you finally decided to take action on becoming the best and most authentic you that you can be. You are excited about taking control of the things that you can control, starting with loving yourself, caring for yourself, and investing in yourself.
“Coach or no coach?”; mentor or no mentor?
Your ultimate challenge at this stage is that you face a dilemma. You have already overcome the “To Be or Not to Be?” dilemma, you are absolutely going to be the best and most authentic you that you can be each day. Your dilemma is “Coach or No Coach?”, Mentor or No Mentor? Keep reading so you can make the best choice for the best you with the right questions to ask about yourself. By the end of this article, you should have enough information to solve your dilemma about whether you should hire a life coach.
Get a mentor: Everyone should have a Jegna in their life!
Let us begin with a little history and a few definitions. While the terms mentor and coach are often used interchangeably, both have distinct origins and meanings. The term “mentor” comes from Greek mythology, where Mentor was a wise and trusted adviser to Odysseus. In modern times, a mentor is someone who provides guidance and advice to a less experienced person, often in a specific field or industry. Did you know that centuries before the Greeks introduced the word “mentor”, there was a word that encompassed the modern day meaning that referred to someone who is respected for their wisdom and experience? This Ethiopian Amharic term is “Jegna.”. A Jegna is often sought out for guidance and advice, particularly by younger members of the community.
Who’s pulling the coach?
The term “coach” has its roots in the 16th century. It originally referred to a horse-drawn carriage used to transport people from one place to another. Over time, the term came to mean someone who helps people reach their goals by giving them training and instruction.
Even though they came from different backgrounds, mentors and coaches have some of the same goals when it comes to helping and guiding others. A sure-fire way to achieve your goals, gain clarity and perspective, and improve your performance, would be to hire a life coach. A mentor can even help you manage stress and anxiety, and navigate major life changes in a more prepared manner.
Before you get a mentor: Three important questions to ask yourself
However, what are questions to ask yourself before you decide to get a mentor? Here we will discuss three questions for you to consider before you decide “Coach or No Coach?”; “Mentor or No Mentor?”; and or “Inspiration and or Motivation?”
1. What are your goals and needs?
Before you hire a coach or connect with a mentor, show yourself some love. Write down your goals, needs, and aspirations. Identify your current strengths, weaknesses, obstacles, and threats to transform you from the person you are now to the person you desire to become. Write out questions for any potential coach. These questions can pertain to their experience level, if they have references, and how long they have been in the business. Before you get a mentor, evaluate what training they have. Also, ascertain if they have a coach and who their coach is.
How will they assess your progress, and how will you assess their effectiveness? Evaluate what their teaching modality is. This question may seem trivial, but it’s far from that. The last thing you want to do is hire a coach with a primary visual teaching modality, and your primary learning modality is auditory. Communication is necessary, even if it’s challenging. Know who you are and what drives you before you hire a coach. In most cases, you will not hire a mentor, yet you should have the aforesaid question answered before meeting with the potential mentor.
2. What motivates you?
Before you start to answer that question, let’s look at what motivate and inspire mean in a general sense. Inspiration is about finding a deep sense of purpose or meaning that drives an individual to take action. On the other hand, motivation is about driving an individual to take action through external factors, including both positive and negative consequences. Inspiration is a long game and can lead to long-lasting change and growth, while motivation may be effective in achieving short-term goals.
Believe it or not, most people require a harmony of both inspiration and motivation. Now that you know the basic difference, you can better make a decision based on your needs. It is your decision to make if you need external forces, positive or negative, to give you a reason to take action.
3. How bad do you want it?
When you prepare the list of questions to ask about yourself, remember to consider why you want a coach or a mentor. Also consider how much you’re willing to invest, and how much you are willing to give up. How hard are you willing to work and stay focused? Is this desire just a “keep up with the Jones’s” adventure that you will abandon when the thrill is gone? Before you hire a life coach, consider if you’re prepared to go all in financially, mentally, emotionally, and physically. Don’t get a mentor until you answer all the questions to ask yourself with a loud, resounding “Yes!”.
Eric Thomas shared the story of the young man who wanted to make a lot of money and met the guru at the beach. In his story, the guru pushes the young man’s head down under the water and holds it. When he lets him up, the guru asks the young man what he wanted most while his head was under water. The young man’s answer was, “To breathe!”. When I was in the tenth grade, I almost drowned in the school pool. It’s not a story to me; I lived it. In the span of time that I was a foot away from the edge and under water, nothing mattered but getting out. When someone came in and pulled me out, the first thing that I did was breathe.
How badly do you want to become the most authentic you? When you can answer these questions with honesty and conviction, you just might be ready to hire a life coach or connect with a mentor.
Takeaway: Questions to ask yourself before you get a mentor.
Finally, the question remains: Are you ready to commit yourself fully and prepare for whatever it takes to take charge of your life with the help of a coach? Do yourself and the coach or mentor a favor and don’t waste yours or their time if you are not prepared to go all in. As hard as it may get and as long as it takes, you decide to hire a life coach to turn your life around. Stay committed to the process of transformation.
Regardless of the number of times you fail, be determined to get up. Get a mentor to help you grow, because you love yourself. Know that you deserve to be the most authentic and best version of yourself, and you won’t settle for anything less.
